Chapter written by Under Drow
Archivists note to the reader: It seems you are viewing this item in the human language English. For this reason the contents of this file, including names, have been ontologically translated to your preferred language. Apologies for the inconvenience.
Humanity isn’t the only race that dreamed of space, for on a distant planet, in a Star System and Galaxy further than humans have ever seen, lay the planet Pelago. It was mostly water, with little islands popping up randomly on its surface. Its dominant sapient species was the Aquiri. They were an aquatic species whose skin colour ranged from yellow to green to blue, with webbed hands and feet, and bioluminescent markings as unique as a fingerprint. Instead of hair, the Aquiri had long tendrils descending from their head.
And now the human (yes, you are, English is a human language) reads up on the aquari. Fascinating.
Pelago was not the only habitable planet in its system however. The thought of building a colony on its neighbouring planet, Derna, had been entertained for hundreds of years after the Aquiri first landed on one of their moons, however, multiple issues with that idea appeared. One was that Derna was comprised entirely of sand, and while they did find water deep underground, it was very difficult to extract. Another, is that ten out of the forty rovers they launched had been swallowed up by some sort of sinking sand, which was impossible to tell apart from solid sand. Not to mention giant lizard creatures that destroyed another five. So deciding not to settle on that planet, they decided instead to explore past their Star System. Which brings us to two earth years before human’s colonization of Mars qualified them to join the Galactic Assembly. This was the day the Aquiri launched the first ship with a warp drive.
What could a human possible want with the aquari?
A large circle hung in the air over open water, the scaffolding holding it up descended down into the depths. On an island thousands of meters away were hundreds of Aquiri, all gathered to witness this historic moment. On the circle itself were numerous security personnel, determined to make sure this operation went off without a hitch. Deep below the surface, a point became visible, and rose higher until it breached the water. Then rose higher and higher into the air, revealing the rocket ship attached to it until eventually, the entire thing was above the waves, water cascading down the rocket and pouring off the steel pad it rested on.
On the circular scaffolding, one security guard sat there, staring at the rocket. His skin was teal, and he wore a black vest and pants made out of fish hide, with small pieces of gore shark armour on his shoulders, elbows, and knees. His bioluminescent markings coiled up his six tendrils, three of them meeting at each side of his neck, while they veered down toward his arms. They coiled a couple times around his upper arm, and, after the elbow, coiled the other way, splitting into ten lines at the wrist. Five went down to his fingernails, the other five went between his fingers and below his hands, spiralling so densely you could barely see the skin on his palm. The markings also travelled down his torso in a helix like formation on his front and back, they coiled a few more times down his legs, before meeting their end at his feet.
He heard a grunt from his left, and looked to see his friend and fellow coworker. His skin was more green in colour, and his markings were vastly different, even having some on his face. The friend spoke no words, instead his bioluminescent markings flashed in a deliberate pattern. To most species, this would just be an alien performing a light show; however, to the Aquiri, while they do grunt above water to get someone’s attention, this flashing was their language. The friend's flashing meant, “Hey Tidal, you nervous?”
Tidal smiled and flashed his markings. “Blade, what do I have to be nervous about? My brother’s the one on the ship.”
“This is the first mission with the warp drive. You can’t tell me you’re not a little bit nervous.”
“Ok, I am a bit nervous, but Mana is the best astronaut the Institution of Deep Space has. If anyone can pull it off, he can.” Tidal said
Meanwhile on the ship, Mana was sitting in the rocket’s cockpit, going over some final checks. He pulled out a small circular device with a spiral on it. The markings on his hand flashed. “Final checks done up here, how’s it going in the engine room?”
The device flashed back. “All clear down here too, ready for take off.”
The device flashed again. “This is IDS Control. You are cleared for take off in 10, 9, 8…”
A low rumbling came from the rocket, which quickly turned into a deafening sound as massive flames shot from below the rocket. It just barely raised itself above the platform when Tidal saw movement in the corner of his eye. He turned to look just in time to see something splash through the waves.
Blade saw this motion and walked up to him. He stuck his hand just within Tidal’s vision. “What’s wrong?” His markings flashed.
“Hopefully nothing. Stay here.” Tidal grabbed his circular communication device. “Tendril, Hammer, follow me!” He said. Then he jumped into the water, two more Aquiri did the same from across the circle. Once below the water, they each grabbed a light water speeder, a machine with two handles attached to a couple guns and a turbine on each side, and sped in the direction of the splash.
They arrived at the location to see nothing. Tidal and Hammer looked at Tendril. He stood still for a second, surrounded by a Cyan aura, before saying. “Someone did swim through here, they went straight down, but we can catch them if we go… that way!” he pointed behind Hammer. All three quickly turned their speeders to follow where he pointed.
Before long, they saw a saturated yellow figure in the distance, markings so minimal, he might as well not have them. As they got closer, Tidal let out a violent vibration from his tendrils. While grunts may be useful for getting someone’s attention above water, it doesn’t work below. Fortunately, an Aquirus’ tendrils can let out and receive vibrations to the same effect under water, which doesn’t work above. The intruder looked back, his face covered in the bioluminescent markings.
Tidal flashed one word. “Stop!”
The intruder just smiled and swam upward, toward an island. The three security guards pursued and started firing. The intruder was dodging left and right, barely avoiding the lasers. If this kept up, he’d never make it to the surface. A magical aura appeared around his hands before a shark swam in front of him, blocking all the lasers with its thick body armour.
“He can summon a gore shark?” Tidal said
“Appears so.” Replied Tendril.
“Where’d someone like him learn to do that?” Hammer said.
“I don’t know but that thing’s going to be a problem.” Tidal said.
Hammer smirked. His bioluminescent markings flashed. “Leave it to me. You two go stop the other guy” He steered his speeder right towards the gore shark. Tidal and Tendril sped closer to the surface, chasing the intruder. Right before Hammer’s speeder hit the shark, he grabbed his spear and let go of his speeder at the last second. The speeder slammed into the gore shark and exploded, sending a shock wave through the water, blasting Hammer back, and Tidal, Tendril, and the criminal further upwards. Tidal and Tendril took a moment to get their bearings, their speeders were nowhere close, and the criminal was already above water just a few feet away. Without a moment to react, a glowing purple net spread over the surface, entangling them as it sank down.
Hammer recovered from the blast far quicker than the shark did, and was already swimming spear first toward it again, eyes glowing orange. The gore shark barely deflected the weapon with its spiked head, before Hammer twisted his body and kicked it in the jaw. The shark recoiled, then moved to bite Hammer, its toothy maw only chomping down on empty water. Hammer was already below it and kicked off the gore shark’s stomach. Seeing the plight of his friends, he swam a little to the side, and prepared his next strike.
Tidal and Tendril were trying to cut the magic net with their knives when the gore shark came crashing into them and propelled them above the surface and high into the air. Thin flaps covered their gills the instant they left the water. Tidal created a green static shield between himself and Tendril, and the net. The net, still caught on their knives and the shark, stretched between the two, then snapped and fizzled out, dropping the Aquiri and shark back down. Tidal grabbed Tendril, and kicked off another green wall, landing on the dark purple sand. He pulled Tendril to his feet as the gore shark crashed into the ocean, creating a massive wave behind them. The two looked across the island. The criminal was standing there, his eyes seemingly piercing their souls, and a magical aura just fading from his hands. Tidal reached for his gun, finding it wasn’t there. He must’ve lost it in the blast. He was about to flash his markings, until he heard a faint grating noise. It appeared to be coming from the spaceship in the atmosphere.
Aboard the spaceship sirens were blaring. “What’s happened?” Mana flashed over his communicator.
The device flashed back, “I don’t know! We just prepped the warp drive and… oh no.”
“Happy, what’s going on?”
“We’re… missing a few parts.” came Happy’s reply .
“What did you do?!” Tidal asked. In response, the criminal held up two items. Tidal looked at the Aquirus confused, however, Tendril’s eyes widened, he knew what those were.
Tendril tapped him on the shoulder. “Those are the thaumutic receiver and quantum transponder.” He said
Now Tidal was no rocket scientist, but he knew what those parts did. “B-but that means…”
“Yes,” The criminal mocked, “they're trying to use magic they don't have, to go into a quantum state that they can't access.”
“Why in Pelago would you do this?” Tidal flashed, his face warped with anger.
“An anonymous employer, and was the pay ever good.”
“What?” Mana’s flashes were bright, he was angry. “How’d you miss those?!”
“They were here before we launched. But they disappeared.” Happy responded.
“Happy, Shut down the warp drive!” Mana’s tendrils vibrated, and he locked eyes with another astronaut in the cockpit. “Fin, contact IDS Control.”
“If we shut down the warp drive now the engine will lose all power.” Happy said.
Mana felt vibrations. He looked back towards Fin. “Mana,” Fin flashed, “IDS is not responding.” Mana hit the window in frustration, this day kept getting better and better.
Tidal's hand shot to his communicator, his markings flashed. “Someone sabotaged the warp drive! Get the astronauts to shut it down!”
The device flashed back. “We're trying to. We can't reach them.”
“Oh, I almost forgot to mention.” The criminal continued. “I sabotaged their communications too.”
The gore shark crashed back into the water, Hammer already thrusting his spear towards its exposed underbelly. It quickly rolled over, deflecting it with its armour, and then swam away a little to reengage. It raced toward Hammer, and bit his spear, splitting it into three pieces, before slamming its head into him. Hammer grabbed its horns as the shark kept swimming, slamming him into the ground.
Tidal’s markings lit up like the sun as he rushed the saboteur. The criminal formed a glowing purple whip and cracked it toward Tidal, who created a green shield to deflect it. He slid under his shield and swung his knife at the criminal. The criminal jump back, he had just enough time to notice the other aquirus had disappeared before a strike to the back of his head told him where he had gone. “Why didn’t you use your knife?” Tidal asked.
In a cyan flash, Tendril reappeared. “Shouldn’t we capture him alive?” he replied, before he kicked the criminal. The criminal rolled away from the next kick, this one from Tidal, and jumped to his feet. He swung his whip at Tidal, twice, both times blocked by a green shield. He noticed the other one was gone again, then noticed a footprint appear right behind him. He rolled to the side, the next footprint appearing said he had dodged the invisible Tendril’s strike.
The gore shark’s horns hovered over Hammer’s skin. Hammer strained against it, desperately trying to stop it from goring him to death. His marking shone brightly as he pushed the gore shark further and further away, and eventually turned, directing the shark’s head straight into the sand. The shark turned to him, and opened its mouth. Hammer saw the broken parts of his spear slowly sinking a ways away. He quickly swam over, the gore shark right behind him. He grabbed the top part, turned, and thrust the spear into the gore shark's mouth. The gore shark went limp, and Hammer allowed himself to relax. He then felt a sharp pain in his arm. Hammer’s blood froze.
Tidal and Tendril kept up the attack. The criminal kept track of the footprints as he dodged Tidal’s punch, rolled away from the footprints, and then grabbed Tidal’s arm. The criminal threw him into Tendril, there was a cyan flash as he became visible again. He then readied his whip, and swung. Tidal was too late to block it, and it wrapped around Tendril. The criminal pulled Tendril towards him, and kneed him in the stomach. He grabbed Tendril’s knife and sliced. Tendril backed up just enough to prevent a lethal cut, however it cut the flap covering his gills. Without even seeing Tidal saying, “Get in the water, now!” Tendril raced towards the waves and dived in.
Upon plunging beneath the surface, Tendril saw numerous little dots surrounding the gore shark’s corpse. ‘Wait,’ he thought, ‘those are needle nosed piranhas!’ He quickly looked around for something to use. He saw a light water speeder not too far away. He grabbed it and sped toward the piranhas, hoping against all odds that Hammer was ok.
Hammer was hiding behind the gore shark. A needle nose piranha swam behind him. Out of its nose shot a small stinger that curved towards Hammer. With a twist he moved the shark between him and the stinger, exposing him on the other side. He moved it again and again. It was the only thing he could do against the homing stingers these things shot. Out of nowhere, lasers rained down from above, killing a few piranhas. They turned their attention to the new threat. All at once, they fired their stingers at Tendril. Tendril sped to the side and then around, straight into the swarm. The homing needles stabbing straight into the piranhas. Hammer grinned as the piranhas got a taste of their own medicine. “How do you like that?” he flashed, before throwing the gore shark into the crowd, skewering many of them on its spikes. Tendril shot the others that were immobilised with pain, and leaving only about five left. They started to swim away, Hammer and Tendril pursued. Tendril shot down two of them by the time Hammer caught them. With one punch to each one, no more piranhas were left alive. Hammer's eyes stopped glowing as he slowed down and finally rested on the seafloor. Tendril swam over to him. “Are you ok?” he asked.
Ah, a fight scene. You're a deathworlder, right? You must love this.
“Well, I’m in severe pain.” Hammer replied. “Don’t worry, I just need to rest a little.”
The criminal wrapped the end of his whip around the knife and turned to Tidal with a smirk. “Just me and you now.” He said. The criminal swung his new weapon at Tidal. He brought up a shield to block it. The bladed whip curved around the edge of the shield, and sliced Tidal in the arm. The criminal readied his weapon again and swung. Tidal brought up another shield beside himself.
‘Predictable,’ the criminal thought, ‘his shields don’t help but he doesn’t know what to do without them.’ Tidal shields, in fact, did still help. The instant the whip touched the shield, Tidal launched himself forward, the criminal narrowly avoided Tidal’s punch. The criminal pulled back his whip, Tidal ducked as the knife soared over his head. He jumped upwards with an uppercut, the criminal leaned back, and swung the knife at Tidal. Tidal made a shield under his feet and flipped over the knife, landed behind him, and finally landed a hit on the criminal, an open palm strike.
Green light travelled from where the strike landed to the criminal's feet as he fell to the ground. He tried to move his feet towards himself to pick himself up, but he felt them rooted to the ground. Tidal calmed himself for a moment, then slowly walked towards the criminal. The criminal scrambled to his feet, feeling like a guppy against a gore shark. In a last ditch effort, he threw his knife, Tidal caught it. “Do you know how many people your stunt could kill?” Tidal flashed. “You could kill my brother!” He punched him in the face. A shield was brought up behind the criminal as he crashed against it. “Could’ve killed my friends!” Tidal punched him in the gut. “And not least of all, every. other. person. on. that. ship!” every word was accompanied with another punch. “You risk the lives of dozens of people, and for what? Some money?” One last punch sent the criminal through the shield, and onto the ground.
Mana racked his brain, trying to think of what to do. If they shut down the warp drive, they plummet and die, if they don’t replace the parts, they explode. Wait, that’s it, they needed a replacement. His tendrils vibrated. “I’m going to engineering, Fin, you’re in charge.”
Fin started, “Wait, but-”
“That’s an order!”
Fin watched Mana swim down the ship to the engine room. A few moments later, the alarm turned off, and the ship went into warp. Slowly, Fin grabbed his communicator. “Happy,” he flashed, “What happened?”
Happy responded, “Mana, he… I think he became the quantum transponder. He sacrificed himself to save us.”
Billions of light years away, 17 beings were sitting around a room. One made of pure light pointed accusingly at a short one appearing to wear a cloak. “You said hiring a local would work.” He said.
“It should’ve, by all accounts he should’ve succeeded!” the cloaked woman said.
“Either way, they’re here now.” A third person said. “As per our rules, we must send them an invitation.”
“Yes, we will invite the Aquiri, however, since hiring a local didn’t work, we will send one of our own operatives to stop the Terrans, maybe they’ll be able to do it right.”
“Agreed.” A chorus of other voices said.
Two earth years later, an invitation was sent to the humans.